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Tasmanian Devil
The Tasmanian Devil, often referred to as Taz, is an animated character featured in the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes series of cartoons. The character appeared in only five shorts before Warner Bros. Cartoons closed down in 1964, but marketing and television appearances later propelled the character to new popularity in the 1990s. Personality As the youngest of the Looney Tunes, the Tasmanian Devil, or 'Taz' as he has come to be known, is generally portrayed as a dim-witted teenager-type with a notoriously short temper and little patience. He will eat anything and everything, with an appetite that seems to know no bounds. He is best known for his speech consisting mostly of grunts, growls and rasps, and his ability to spin and bite through just about anything. Creation and first appearance Robert McKimson based the character on the real-life Tasmanian Devil, or more specifically its carnivorous nature and voracious appetite. Owen and Pemberton suggest that the character of the Tasmanian Devil was inspired by Errol Flynn. The most noticeable resemblance between the Australian marsupial and McKimson's creation is their ravenous appetites and crazed behavior. Although the bipedal Tasmanian Devil's appearance does not resemble its marsupial inspiration, it contains multilayered references to other "devils": he has horn-shaped fur on his head (similar to the Devil's appearance) and whirls about like a dust devil (similar in appearance to a tornado) which sounds like several motors whirring in unison. Taz is constantly voracious. His efforts to find more food (animate or inanimate) are always a central plot device of his cartoons. His hydrophobia serves as an internal antagonist quite often. In fact, this appetite serves as the impetus for McKimson's Devil May Hare (first released on June 19, 1954). In the short, Taz stalks Bugs Bunny, but due to his dimwittedness and inability to frame complete sentences, he serves as little more than a nuisance. Bugs eventually gets rid of him in the most logical way possible: matching him up with an equally insatiable female Tasmanian Devil. The character's speech, peppered with growls, screeches, and raspberries, was provided by Mel Blanc. Only occasionally would Taz actually speak, usually to utter some incongruous punchline, (e.g. "What for you bury me in the cold, cold ground?") and yet the character is capable of writing and reading. A running gag is that when Bugs Bunny hears of the approach of "Taz" and looks him up in an encyclopedia and starts reading off a list of animals that "Taz" eats; Bugs finds "rabbits" not listed until "Taz" either points out that "rabbits" are listed or writes rabbits on the list. After the short entered theaters, producer Eddie Selzer, head of the Warner Bros. animation studio, ordered McKimson to shelve the character, feeling it was too violent for children and parents disliked this.Owen and Pemberton, p. 157 After a time with no new Taz shorts, studio head Jack Warner asked what had happened to the character. Warner saved Taz's career when he told Selzer that he had received "boxes and boxes" of letters from people who liked the character and wanted to see more of him. Later shorts McKimson would go on to direct four more Tasmanian Devil cartoons, beginning with Bedeviled Rabbit (released on April 13, 1957). The she-devil returns in this cartoon, now as Mrs. Tasmanian Devil, but Taz's attraction for the female of his species is again exploited by Bugs when he uses a sexy female-devil costume to deliver some explosives to him. McKimson would also pair the Devil with Daffy Duck in Ducking the Devil (August 17, 1957) before pitting him once again against Bugs in Bill of Hare (June 9, 1962) and Dr. Devil and Mr. Hare (March 28, 1964). His final appearance done by the classic Warner Brothers directors, writers, and voice actors was in Bugs Bunny's Looney Christmas Tales appearing in The Fright Before Christmas segment and at the very end eating the sleigh full of presents. Tasmanian Devil appeared in The Looney Tunes Show episode Devil Dog voiced by Jim Cummings. In the show, he is portrayed walking on four legs like a real Tasmanian Devil and his eyes are bloodshot red (later turned yellow when Bugs uses a taming trick that Speedy Gonzales taught him). Here Bugs believes him to be a dog and keeps him as a pet. Eventually Bugs learns the truth and tries to return him home, only to find out that Taz would rather live with him. He then appears in the episode The Foghorn Leghorn Story. Relationship with the Tasmanian Government In 1997, a newspaper report noted that Warner Brothers had "trademarked the character and registered the name Tasmanian Devil", and that this trademark "was policed", including an eight year legal case to allow a Tasmanian company to call a fishing lure the Tasmanian Devil. Debate followed, and a delegation from the Tasmanian government met with Warner Bros.Owen and Pemberton, pp. 161–164. Ray Groom, the Tourism Minister, later announced that a "verbal agreement" had been reached. An annual fee would be paid to Warner Bros. in return for the Government of Tasmania being able to use the image of Taz for "marketing purposes". This agreement later disappeared.Owen and Pemberton, p.167, p. 169. After much lobbying from the Tasmanian state government in Australia, Warner Bros. decided to assist the fight against extinction of the Tasmanian Devil due to devil facial tumour disease. Tasmanian Environment Minister Judy Jackson, prior to the company's support, heavily criticised Warner Bros., stating that the company had made millions of dollars from the character, but did not put up any money when other companies had. The deal with Warner Bros. allows the Tasmanian Government to manufacture and sell up to 5000 special edition Taz plush toys with all profit going towards funding scientific research into the Devil Facial Tumour Disease. The deal also aims to increase public attention towards the threatening disease. The Tasmanian Government and Warner Bros. have previously disputed the government's right to use the character as a tourism promotion, which Warner Bros. offered if they paid for it. The government refused this offer. Filmography Shorts and movies *''Devil May Hare'' (June 19th, 1954) *''Bedevilled Rabbit'' (April 13th, 1957) *''Ducking The Devil'' (August 17th, 1957) *''Bill of Hare'' (June 9th, 1962) *''Dr. Devil and Mr. Hare'' (March 28th, 1964) *''Bugs Bunny's Looney Christmas Tales'' *''Daffy Duck's Fantastic Island'' (1983) *''Tweety's High-Flying Adventure'' (2000) *''Looney Tunes: Back In Action'' (2003), voiced by Brendan Fraser *''Space Jam'' (1996), voiced by Dee Bradley Baker *''Bah, Humduck! A Looney Tunes Christmas'' (2006), voiced by Jim Cummings Television shows *''Tiny Toon Adventures'' *''Taz-Mania, voiced by Jim Cummings *Animaniacs'' *''Histeria!'' *''Baby Looney Tunes, voiced by Ian James Corlett *The Looney Tunes Show, voiced by Jim Cummings Gallery devilmay01.jpg|Taz with Bugs Bunny tazdaffy.jpg|Taz with Daffy Duck 426px-Baby_Taz-1-.png|Taz in ''Baby Looney Tunes TasmanianDevil.jpg|Taz as seen in Taz-Mania Poochie.png|Taz as seen in The Looney Tunes Show TazDizzy.png|Taz as seen in Tiny Toon Adventures Taz_on_Histeria.jpg|Taz as seen in Histeria! References * * Notes External links *WarnerBros.com *Toonopedia: Tasmanian Devil *TazWorld Tasmanian Devil, The Category:Characters Category:Taz-Mania Characters Category:Baby Looney Tunes characters Category:The Looney Tunes Show Characters Category:Tiny Toon Adventures characters Category:Characters who break the fourth wall Category:Animaniacs characters Category:Histeria! characters